Shutter for internal-combustion engines



y 20, 1952 J.'ROZEN V 2,597,822

SHUTTER FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed July 29, 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET l May 20, 1952 J. ROZEN 2,597,822

SHUTTER FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed July 29, 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTOR.

34/0 SEPH Roz/5N I BY 2 Patented May 20, 1952 OFFICE SHUTTER FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES Joseph Rozen, wichita Kaiisl v Application July 29, 1947, seri a1 No."764-,s64

My invention relates to an improvement in protective and temperature controlling devices for internal combustion engines of transportation devices.

, An object of my invention is to providean adjustable shield devicethat may beipositioned in front of an internal combustion enginein transportation devices or in front of the radiator of the cooling system of the engine to shield the engine or radiator from snow, rain-extremely cold wind and the like, that would interfere with the proper running or performance of the engine.

Another object of the invention is'to provide a device of the kind mentioned, the several shields of which may be operated independently of each other so as to shield the engine or radiator from either side or the top or bottom thereof, or all the shields may be opened as may be desired in fair weather. 1 I V A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the kind mentioned in which the shields may be partially opened, to admitthe passage'of limited amounts of cooling air, whereby the temperature of the engine may be governed to suit the operator of the engine. g

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of the kind mentioned that is simple inconstruction, inexpensive to make, simple to install, light in weight and issimple and easy to operate. These and. other objects will be more fully explained as this description progresses,

Now referring to the accompanying drawings, in which similar numerals of reference designate the same parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a front view of an airplane to which my invention has been applied.

Fig, 2 is a detail sectional view through an airplane wing and showing a side View of the engine housing to which my invention has been applied, the view being as seenfrom the line II-IIin Fig. l and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is a detail cross sectional view through the engine housing and showing my invention applied thereto, the view being as seen from the line IIIIII in Fig. .2 and looking in the direc; tion of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a front view of the device, the engine housing and portions of the shield tracks therein being shown in dotted lines.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of an airplane to which my invention has been applied and showing the operating cables by which the shutters are actuated.

2 omens. (o1. 25 7 132) Fig. 16 is. .an.. enlarged detail sectional view through the engine housing to which my invention has beenapplied and showing still more clearly the means of actuating the protective shields of the device.

Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the instrument board or other suitable portion of the machine and illustratingthe method of adjusting the shields.

Fig. 8 ma section taken on the lines 8-8 of 4:. '1 hilt.

- In the drawings is shownan airplane fuselage -l 93 and wings I l and I2 on which the engine housings l3 and ,l 4 are carried and in which an engine 15 is mounted in the usual manner, the engine i5 having: the usual drive or crankshaft I6 that extends. forwardly therefrom and through the large circular opening I! whichis concentric with the shaft 16 on which the propeller I8 is rigidly mounted. in front: of the engine housing l3 or M in the usualmanner. My-inventionconsists of a circular frame l9 that is adapted to fit within the engine housing opening it and be rigidly attached to the housing by any suitablemeans such asbolts or welding. The circular'frame I9 is provided with a smaller. circularelement 20 through which the drive shaft-16 of the. engine revolvably passes. The. small ring 20 is supported on channeled track elements 2 Lthat are rigidly attached thereto and radiate therefrom and are rigidly attached to the largecircular frame element I9 to define equally sized portions and shaped portions of the area of thecircledefined by the large circular frame l9. At the outer ends of the track elements 2| the track elements divide and extend beyond the large ring l9 and behind the portion of the engine housing to which the large ring I9 is attached to form parallel track elements 2m and 292), that join onto a still larger ring [9 that fits in the outer circular portion of the housing [3 or It, as shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 6.

The device is provided with a series of shutter elements I); c, d and e that are made'of any suitable-material such-as plywood, sheet metal, lass, plastic material or the like. If glass or plastic material is used it may be clear or transparent or colored, making it translucent or even opaque.

t is well known that glass of varying colors has an effect on the amount of heat that is readily transmitted therethrough, therefore it may be admissible to use colored glass or plastic material for the shutters b, c, d and e, each of the shutter elements I), c, d and e are carried in a frame 22 that is slidably carried in the parallel track eleelement 25 that slidably passes through a slot 26 in the instrument panel 24 and the ratchet teeth oi the element 25 will catch on the metal of the. instrument panel 24 at the bottom of the slot 25 to hold the shutter b, c, d or e, in radially adjusted positions relative to the circular opening H of the engine housing 13 or M. It will be understood that the cablespass around a system of pulleys such as at 21, 28, 29 and 30 that are located, one at each turn of each cable 23 in its tortuous route from its respectiveshutter b, c, d and e, to its respective ratchet .toothed; element 25 at the instrument panel of the machine. Each shutter 22, c, d and e is provided with a helical compression spring 81 that is. positioned around its respective cable 23 with one: end of the. spring 3! bearing against the. outer member of the shutter frame 22 and the other end of. the spring 3| bears against the engine housing 13 or 14. The spring 3! serves to urge movement of its respective shutter and shutterframe toward the center of the circular air opening I"! of the engine housing it or M as will be readily understood.

The operation of the device is as follows; before starting theengines l5,.the.engines will be coldor cool and the shutters b, c, d and e will be left in a closed position, thereby denying passage of air throughtheair opening I] of the engine housings l3' and I4. As the engine runs it will. warm up and when the engine reaches the desired temperature the shutters may be opened to any desired degree by the operator of the machine by pulling outward on the ratchet toothed elements 25 to the desired positionwhere they may be so 1 held by allowing the ratchetteeth of the: ratchet toothed element .25 to engagethe metal of the instrument panel 24. at the bottom of the slot 26 as shown in Fig. 7.. As the plane flies and gains altitude the temperature of the: cooling air .will

change and. further adjustments of the shutters b, c, d and-e. may be=made in the same manner as above described to suit the prevailing conditions. As the ratchet:elements 25.- are. released or moved inwardly, the pressure. of the springs 31 will move their respective shutter b, c, d or e toward the center of .the circular opening 11 to effect a partial or complete closure of the opening 11 as the case may be, thereby limiting or adjusting the amount of cooling air passing by the engine which in turn. governs the temperature of the engine.

When an-airplane encounters a .rain or snowstorm, the rain or snow may be traveling from one side ornthe other of the engine or from the top or even the bottom thereof.v In this case, the shutters on one side, top or bottom, may beclosed more than those on the opposite. side, top or bottom to shield the engine from the rain or snow as will readily be understood;

' While the device shown in the drawings and described in the foregoing specification is probably the preferred form of the device, it is to be understood that such modifications of the invention may be employed as lie within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and intention of the invention.

Whilethe device is shown and described as being applied to an airplane, it is also to be understood that the device is applicable for use on automobiles and devices of various types where internal combustion engines are used. Now having fully shown and'described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a protective and temperature controlling device for internal combustion engines, said engine having a housing therefor and an opening in said housing for the passage of air there through for engine cooling purposes, a shutter holder frame, said frame comprising a central frame ring, .an intermediate frame ring and an outer frame ring, .said' central and intermediate frame rings being joined together by radially extending channeled elements that radiate from the central ring to the intermediate ring, pairs of channeled .elements, said pairs of channeled elements connecting between the. outer ends of the said radially positioned channeled elements and being in a V-shaped position between the said intermediate and outer frame rings, each channeled leg of the V-shape being in parallelism with the next successive channel element of the next successive V-shape channeled frames, the said intermediate frame ring being positioned around the opening in said housing and the V-shaped channeled elements extending outwardly behind the said housing and from the edge of said opening to the outer ring in the housing, a plurality of V-shaped fiat plates, said V-shaped flat plates being slidable radially between the said pairs of parallel channeled elements and being receivable in the radially positioned channeled elements when the V-shaped flat plates are in their closed position, and means for radially moving said V- shaped flat plates independently of one another to and from their closed, partially opened and full open positions.

2. A structure of the character described in claim 1, wherein the V-shaped flat plates are made of light transmitting material and are colored.

JOSEPH ROZEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,181,873 Gue et al May 2, 1916 1,254,785 Farrell Jan. 29, 1918 1,503,366 Jaray .July 29, 1924 1,521,362 Dunlap Dec. 30, 1924: 1,541,844 Pate. June 16, 1925 1,566,141 Jones Dec. 15, 1925 1,598,610 Hufschm'idt Sept. 7, 1926 3,131,874 Griifin Oct. 4, 1938 2,246,823 Vollberg et a1. June 24, 1941 2,289,100 Carroll July '7, 1942 

